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I don't plan to work them any more than absolutely necessary. The whole hive can be removed and taken outside. The glass is put in with wooden 3/8" strips and 23ga brad/pins. There will be a lot of burr comb between the frames, but other than that, the frames are removeable.

I moved frames of bees into it from a nuc that I had located near the new entrance. It is a might heavy, but manageable. I installed it myself, but two people would make it easy. The only scary part is the large sheets of 1/8" glass. I think I should have probably gone 3/16".

If anybody wants plans or constuction details, let me know. It can be sized to any number of frames. There is about 80 cents worth of hardware in the whole thing. The center pivot worked out slick with a 60 cent plastic sink drain flange. I can shoot photos of it if anybody needs that detail. I made the interior (frame rests) out of cypress. The rest is soft maple, about 8 board feet.

No, I'm all mediums. I'll shoot some pictures of the pivot and post them. It basically requires a 1.5" and a 1.75" Forstner bit and some paste wax, very simple and works great. I did a lot of little details like hand planing bevels on all the edges, but the construction is straight forward. You can do it all with a saw and a chisel if necessary. Easy to do with a table saw and dado head.

My lesson learned -- get the glass cut early. My glass cutter was generous, and that extra 1/8" all the way around was a pain.

A top entrance can be a problem for the bees to clear trash from the hive. Other than that, I don't see a problem. You may want to incorporate some type of removeable screened bottom tray for trash removal if you go that way.

Regarding working the OB: I used to take the three frame OB outside to work them but found it cumbersome. Now I just remove the window inside. Yes, some bees will fly out, but my biggest concern is dripping honey - so a drip cloth on the bottom works out fine. Some bees will buzz around but if you remove the fly screen from the window they will disappear quickly once the hive is back together. They always try to get back where they know the entrance is, which is outside.